


a late night

by darlingtimes



Category: A3! (Video Game)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, it's mutual and they're probably not dating yet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-18
Updated: 2020-05-18
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:41:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24244450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darlingtimes/pseuds/darlingtimes
Summary: Itaru helps Tsumugi play Animal Crossing, and they both really, really like spending time together.
Relationships: Chigasaki Itaru/Tsukioka Tsumugi
Comments: 11
Kudos: 113





	a late night

**Author's Note:**

> I HOPE YOU CONSIDER THESE TWO THEY'RE SO CUTE!! this ship needs more fics :,) i hope you enjoy reading!!
> 
> (it's animal crossing: city folk because that was the last ac game i played and i am not a gamer with many games under my belt,, i am aware the wii is from a decade ago hsdfhskdj)

“Earlier, I said to hit A whenever you want to do something, but when you want to pick things up, use B--right there, on the bottom of the remote.”

“Okay, use B for this flower… No..! It burst into petals, did I kill it?! Itaru, I’m so sorry..!” Tsumugi looked at Itaru, wide-eyed, gripping the Wii remote.

“It’s fine, I can always plant more. I’m not too particular here, since I only keep this town around for nostalgia,” reassured Itaru. “Maybe I should’ve just let you on New Horizons, though, where the flowers grow back… Do you want to try playing on this one? There’s a lot more stuff to do, too.”

Itaru reached for his Switch on the coffee table and showed it to Tsumugi, who knitted his brows together at the sleek device. “That looks like more buttons to learn...I think I’ll work a little harder on the We, but thank you, Itaru.”

Stifling a chuckle at Tsumugi’s stilted pronunciation of the console, Itaru nodded. “Alright then. By the way, to avoid running again, just press B once, don’t hold it.”

“Okay…” Refocusing his attention on the TV screen, Tsumugi walked around some more, searching for some more flowers to pick or water with his watering can.

“Are you having fun, Tsumugi? All you’ve been doing is running in circles outside--you haven’t even talked to any villagers yet. I can help you with other activities, too, like going to the city or fishing.”

“You can talk to the villagers?”

Itaru winced, remembering that Tsumugi had not a single inkling of game knowledge--or, really, anything even marginally related to technology. Unlike Itaru, he was raised with grandma hobbies, not with video games.  _ Well, those parts of him are pretty cute. _ “Right, sorry, I forgot to mention that. If you see any of those animals walking around, go up to them and press A, and you can have a conversation. Sometimes they’ll ask you for stuff.”

“Oh, that sounds charming... I’ll go look for one now!”

Itaru watched as Tsumugi intently navigated the character on the screen, his lips pressed thin in concentration as he fiddled with the controls.

“Ah, a duck came up to me!” 

“That means he wants to talk. Just press A next to him.”

“Alright!” Suddenly, his entire face lit up in a smile and he turned to face Itaru. “Look, Drake offered to call me ‘T-cat!’”

Blinking and turning towards the screen, Itaru noticed that Drake had indeed given him a nickname. “Oh, nice. I was wondering when that’d happen, I’ve been talking to him for the last few weeks… T-cat’s short for taruchi, but it worked out pretty well for you, huh?”

“Can I give him a nickname back?”

“Well, if you write him a letter you can call him whatever you want. Did you see Nookington’s? You can get letter paper there, or check the lost and found up top at the gate.”

“Alright! I’ll check the store, then... Just keep pressing A to select things...”

Itaru watched the screen for a few more beats to make sure Tsumugi was heading in the right direction, then slid his gaze back onto Tsumugi’s face, grinning a little. “You’re making some decent progress on handling Animal Crossing. Have your eyes opened to the wonders of the digital world?”

“Ah, I don’t know if you’d call it that, but… The game's atmosphere is lovely. Thank you for suggesting it, Itaru.”

“No problem. I never thought you’d come asking me for a game rec, since I’m always the one dragging you onto a stream for your reactions.”

“Mm…” Tsumugi averted his eyes from the screen for a just a moment to glance at Itaru and give a sweet, gentle smile. “Well, I wanted to get to know your hobby a little more.”

“Oh… Yeah.” Itaru’s voice squeaked a little, so he cleared his throat and said lamely, “Yeah, I’m happy to share anytime.”  _ Is this guy for reeal. Is he aware of how blinding his smile is. _

“So Itaru, to buy something I should just use A to select like always?”

“Ah, yeah. You can see a preview of the paper too, just choose from the options the kid gives you when you select the paper.”

“Alright, then.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Itaru noticed his phone screen light up on the table. Stamina refill. All he was doing right now was answering Tsumugi’s questions (and admiring his face, but some thoughts aren’t meant to be directly acknowledged), so he should open the game and work on the event, but... Well, being P2P means you can have some slack on efficiency. Itaru ignored the device and kept his attention on Tsumugi--Tsumugi’s gameplay.




A few hours passed in no time, and Tsumugi found himself totally absorbed in the little world of round animals and nature. When night had fallen, Itaru had stopped him from fishing and directed him to the observatory and Celeste. They were deciding what constellations to make when the in-game clock chimed the hour and he remembered what he was doing in Itaru’s room in the first place.

_ Ah..! I wanted to learn about Itaru's hobby _ and  _ spend some more time together with him, so I thought we’d play a game together--but I’ve been the only one playing..! _

“Are you okay, Tsumugi? You look like you just flinched or something.”

“I-I’m fine! Itaru, do you want to play for a bit? It’s already so late, but I just realized that all you’ve been doing is watching me play…” Tsumugi lifted his Wii remote, ready to hand it over.

Itaru turned his head to Tsumugi. Smiling, he said, “Nah, I’m good. It’s pretty fun to watch you get excited over little things I got used to ages ago.”

Seeing Itaru’s face, Tsumugi relaxed. “Alright, then. So long as you’re enjoying yourself as much as I am...” The last bit of his sentence was muffled with a yawn.

“Do you want to call it quits for today? You look pretty sleepy. I won’t say it’s not in my interest for you to like a game enough to stay up, but I think it’d be a weight on my conscience to convert you…”

“Mm…” This  _ was _ a chance to be with Itaru longer, plus he didn’t have a tutoring appointment until the afternoon, so… Tsumugi shook his head and smiled. “Let’s make some more constellations! And I haven’t seen the city yet, either.”

Itaru chuckled and said, “More like, you’ve avoided the bus stop because you were too fixated with planting flowers and catching things.”

“Itaru, you said yourself there was no wrong way to enjoy this game! Don’t call me out for choosing to stick with the basic activities!”

“Pfft. Did you learn that from Kazunari?”

“Taichi, actually. I used it well, didn’t I?” Tsumugi grinned boyishly, and listening to Itaru’s laughter, his drowsiness floated away. Really, staying up a little longer was a no price to pay for a time like this.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading!!
> 
> isn't tsumugi being a little pouty just so adorable... like the poutiness is very limited but!! "itaru >:( don't call me out >:(" i made him say that myself but anyway, i love him


End file.
